(Winner of the 1961 Newbery Medal; Named one of the Ten Best American Children's Books of the Last 200 Years by the Children's Literature Association) Karana is only 12 when the rest of her people are evacuated from their island off the California coast. There she lives by herself for the next 18 years, building shelter, making weapons, finding food, and fighting the island's wild dogs, while growing into a woman. Scott O'Dell's wistfully beautiful story of survival and personal discovery, for readers 8 to 12, is based on a real person, and this 50th anniversary edition includes an introduction by fellow Newbery Medalist Lois Lowry.